Farewell, Timofey Mozgov

[gratefuldead]

I hope the moz blocks waiters badly...would make my day

 

[LeShaq]

Can someone explain to me why this guy didn't play more in Denver? Did they totally misuse him? Not utilize him correctly? I mean, his numbers weren't that bad in Denver or anything.

* He got stuck behind some players that were better than him at the time (or players Denver thought were better), like Nene and Kosta Koufos

* The Nuggets didn't value him enough to give him the run he needed to develop

* He only really came into his own in the NBA last year (2013-14)

* By the time Denver realized he was a legitimate player, they had McGee and Nurkic. Nurkic looks great, and he's 8 years younger than Mozgov. So Mozgov became someone Denver could afford to let go.


Basically, things have worked out perfectly for us.

Mozgov was not the force he is now until last year. But last year you could see it all coming together. Now he has a starting role, and he's ready to make the most of it. And he has a coach who knows him, and he has a team that needs him. This is the perfect position for him and us, and it will lead to questions just like the one you are asking: How did this guy come free to us?

Credit to Griff here. And Blatt. They have been pushing for Mozgov all season and they finally got him. And boy, did we win big. If Moz doesn't get hurt, we look like we will be set at center for LeBron's run here. At least as a starting center or monster backup if we got someone like Marc Gasol.

I think part of the reason why Haywood's contract might be "usable" at this time is because the team may feel that they no longer need it, or have to have it, in order to get another starting center. How much better of a center for this team are we going to get than Mozgov, realistically?

Home run Griff. And Gilbert.

We may be able to add a guy like Koufos or something like that in the offseason and basically be set at center for LeBron's run. We still need a backup point guard (which could happen with Haywood's deal this year), we still need a backup center (Koufos in free agency?) or starting center, and we still need some athletic wings (free agent ring chasers?) but things finally look like we hoped they would look at the start of the year.

We're so much closer now to the team we need to be to win a title. Man, it's awesome.

 

[Sebastian]

I hope the moz blocks waiters badly...would make my day

"AAAYYYEEEE! And one!"

"NYET!"

 

[shoes22]

Mozzy got into some foul trouble today, as well as getting some questionable calls from the refs, but it only emphasized the need to me of bringing in another backup C by the deadline. Thankfully Tristan had a great game tonight so it ended up not being a big deal, but it still worries me if Mozzy goes down for any reason or fouls out. Gotta bring in reinforcements.

 

[Glenechocreek]

The Mozilla is the best thing to happen to Cleveland since forever. We were hoping for an average C at best, and got a monster.

Fun times ahead.

 

[Binkster]

"LeBron James and Russell Westbrook led their teams in drives to the basket Sunday, but Westbrook was unable to finish on those plays, going 0-of-7 from the field. James went 3-of-4 and drew four fouls on drives."

"Cavaliers drivers scored 18 points in the 1st half Sunday, shooting 4-of-6 from the field and drawing 5 fouls, resulting in 10-of-10 from the FT line.Thunder drivers scored 6 points on 3-of-10 shooting and drew no fouls."
- per ESPN notes

I largely credit Mozgov and Thompson here for patrolling the paint. I'm no Thompson fan, but those two have flipped this defense on its head. We've gone from laughing stock to feared matchup.

 

[Kypus]

Mozzy got into some foul trouble today, as well as getting some questionable calls from the refs, but it only emphasized the need to me of bringing in another backup C by the deadline... it still worries me if Mozzy goes down for any reason or fouls out. Gotta bring in reinforcements.

Totally agree- we at least need an enforcer option for the rotation (doesn't have to play ALL the time) for when opposing bigs (Kendrick Perkins 3Q 10:00) gets up in his shit. You know Anderson Varejao would've been right in there supporting him. Instead, no one stepped up. Not good. Not from a team-trust standpoint, or from the simple Concussion Protocol standpoint that is an OBVIOUS tactic teams could employ in a 7-game playoff series.

 

[Binkster]

Favorite under the radar play of the day...

Perkins laid JR out with a dirty blindside screen near half court and knocked Smith for a loop as he laid on the ground for minutes. No foul was assessed, crowd was pissed.

Less than a quarter later, Mozgov set a screen on Durant, planted a shoulder right under his chin, and knocked him back on his heels. You could tell KD was shaken up.

He was called for a moving pick, but I couldn't have been happier with it.

We aren't going to take that shit lying down.

 

[brownsbuck6]

Favorite under the radar play of the day...

Perkins laid JR out with a dirty blindside screen near half court and knocked Smith for a loop as he laid on the ground for minutes. No foul was assessed, crowd was pissed.

Less than a quarter later, Mozgov set a screen on Durant and a shoulder right under his chin and knocked him back on his heels.

He was called for a moving pick, but I couldn't have been happier with it.

We aren't going to take that shit laying down.

And another thing to note on that play where JR was blindsided - Mike Miller jumped off the bench and reminded TT to yell out that pick to JR - loved to see Miller being mentally into the game even though he probably isn't going to play much for the foreseen future. That sort of veteran leadership is so valuable.

 

[macbdog]

Totally agree- we at least need an enforcer option in the rotation (doesn't have to play ALL the time) for when opposing bigs (Kendrick Perkins 3Q 10:00) gets up in his shit. You know Anderson Varejao would've been right in there supporting him. Instead, no one stepped up. Not good. Not from a team-trust standpoint, or from the simple Concussion Protocol standpoint that is an OBVIOUS tactic teams could employ in a 7-game playoff series.

I know everyone wants to win this year and such, but this is yet another role that a successful team fills via draft and development. This team has sacrificed a ton of assets to fill these roles that, for nothing more than cap purposes, need to be grown internally. Any fool GM can deal assets for vets who help in the short term. Billy King proved that. Can Griffin actually hold onto his draft picks, though, and find the young guys for these roles? He can't keep dealing away without stocking that cupboard asset least a little. Late 1st rounders do not become stars but they sure as hell can be backup big men, 3D defensive wings, etc.

Hopefully they can find a FA C to fill this role or a D leaguer they feel can be used in this kind of role. But dealing what is left of limited assets to add even more payroll, well, that is going to bite them in the ass really soon.

 

[chuck0609]

I know everyone wants to win this year and such, but this is yet another role that a successful team fills via draft and development. This team has sacrificed a ton of assets to fill these roles that, for nothing more than cap purposes, need to be grown internally. Any fool GM can deal assets for vets who help in the short term. Billy King proved that. Can Griffin actually hold onto his draft picks, though, and find the young guys for these roles? He can't keep dealing away without stocking that cupboard asset least a little. Late 1st rounders do not become stars but they sure as hell can be backup big men, 3D defensive wings, etc.

Hopefully they can find a FA C to fill this role or a D leaguer they feel can be used in this kind of role. But dealing what is left of limited assets to add even more payroll, well, that is going to bite them in the ass really soon.

Griffin has had one draft. He's used this cupboard that's referenced to build a team of players that are, in their prime (Lebron fucking James, Jr Smith, maybe MOZ), or entering their prime (K Love, Shump, extending KI). This isn't an OLD team by any means.

He still has his own draft pick this year and at least one second round pick.

He's put together a pretty damn good roster now; give the guy a chance to move forward.

 

[macbdog]

Never said it was old but it is expensive and the team is already at the cap apron after one offseason. Again, we will see what he is able to do but having one draft pick a year is going to make that hard. They will not have that flexibility once they go over. And don't expect the other owners to reverse course and make exceptions for Dan in the next round of negotiations since he was one of the owners who pushed for these restrictions in the first place.

 

[Mr. Orange]

Favorite under the radar play of the day...

Perkins laid JR out with a dirty blindside screen near half court and knocked Smith for a loop as he laid on the ground for minutes. No foul was assessed, crowd was pissed.

Less than a quarter later, Mozgov set a screen on Durant, planted a shoulder right under his chin, and knocked him back on his heels. You could tell KD was shaken up.

He was called for a moving pick, but I couldn't have been happier with it.

We aren't going to take that shit lying down.

Perkins was dirty all game.

 

[supermario21]

Billy King will go down as the worst GM of the decade. Limited protection on the lottery pick that became Dame Lillard in the Gerald Wallace deal? 3 unprotected 1sts in the Pierce/KG deal? LOL. Ainge, Ferry, and Olshey have all gotten rich off of him. Those moves are in Jiri Welsch territory.


That shows you the difference in value of 1st rounders. None of the picks we had to get Mozgov were going to be that valuable.

 

[Kbiz]

Perkins was dirty all game.

It's Perk. He has played us dirty his entire career. That is his game. He is one of the last remaining "enforcers" in the NBA. He pulled that shit constantly in Boston. It doesn't help that his shoulders look like they were crafted from steel. Every pick he sets looks questionable.